Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera)
Author
Heikkilä, Maria
Author
Brown, John W.
Author
Baixeras, Joaquin
Author
Mey, Wolfram
Author
Kozlov, Mikhail V.
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-03-13
4394
1
41
60
journal article
26761
10.11646/zootaxa.4394.1.2
96807e95-89bd-4f9c-8e64-dd44cf0ca98a
1175-5326
3066097
6AEE9169-0FC2-4728-A690-52FFA1707FC0
Tortricidrosis inclusa
Skalski, 1973
Excavation locality and depository:
MNHU
Berlin
(
Holotype
: MB L-10=LEP.SUCC.133/AWS)/
Baltic Region
(
Baltic Amber
,
Prussian Fm.
)/Lutetian, Middle Eocene. The amber collection of
C. and H.W. Hoffeins
includes a male tortricid moth in Baltic Amber (nr. 1649/3 coll.
C. & H.W. Hoffeins
(
Hamburg
)
Baltic Region
(
Baltic Amber
,
Prussian Fm.
)/
Lutetian
,
Middle Eocene
) that WM suspects is conspecific with the
holotype
of
T. inclusa
.
He
simultaneously compared the two specimens under a dissecting scope at
MNHU and could find no differences, except in forewing length, which is slightly larger in the specimen from the Hoffeins collection. Based on their morphological similarity and their comparable age, it is possible, that the two fossils are conspecific (
Figs 1
a–f.). In the absence of morphological characters to separate or diagnose the two, we treat them as conspecific.
Published illustrations of
holotype
:
Skalski 1973: 339
, figs 1–5 (photographs and drawings).
Condition:
The
holotype
is in a rectangular block (10 × 17 ×
4 mm
) of amber attached to a microscope slide. It is an adult male moth, forewing length
5.1 mm
. The head, thorax and part of the wings are partly covered in a white substance that makes observation of details difficult. The wings are partly folded, and the veins are only partly visible. The fossil moth has retained some of its wing pattern, which is rare in fossils of
Lepidoptera
.
The specimen in the C. & H.W. Hoffeins collection is much better preserved than the
holotype
and reveals several characters that are unobservable in the
holotype
. It is also a male, and the right wings are perfectly spread, showing a fairly complete forewing pattern (
Fig. 1a
).
FIGURE 1.
Moth in Baltic amber conspecific with
Tortricidrosis inclusa
Skalski, 1973
. Collection of C. and H. W. Hoffeins (Hamburg), nr. 1649/3.
a.
Dorsal view. Length of forewing 7.8 mm.
b.
Ventral view of abdomen.
c.
and
d.
Male genitalia.
e.
Head.
f.
Wing venation. Photos and illustrations: Wolfram Mey.
Comments:
Skalski (1973)
presented an illustration of the forewing pattern of the
holotype
, which includes a basal spot, a median fascia, and a subapical spot, which are found in many species of
Tortricidae
. He also provided a reconstruction of the venation and descriptions of other visible details.
Based on the second specimen, the following characters can be added to the description of
T. inclusa
: antenna with short cilia on the ventral side, dorsal side of all flagellomeres with two rows of short scales; ocelli absent; maxillary palpus 3-segmented; haustellum base devoid of scales, short blunt sensilla in the apical portion; tarsal segments with three apical spines ventrally; male genitalia with extremely long valvae, nearly as long as the entire pregenital abdomen, with a long, slender, apically hooked uncus, and short socii.
Skalski (1973)
suggested that
T. inclusa
was a member of the extant subfamily Olethreutinae based on the presence of infracellular veins [= the chorda and M stem], “the tendency to straighten the median and cubital veins,” and M
2
and M
3
straight, with their bases widely separate in the hind wing. The last character is typical of many tortricids and probably represents the plesiomorphic condition in the family. M stem and stem of R
4+5
also are present in some
Tortricinae
such as
Cerace
Walker, 1863
(Ceracini; from Eastern Palaearctic),
Anacrusis
Zeller, 1877
(Atteriini; South and Central American) and in some species of the Australian
Arotrophora
group (
Horak 1984
).
Importantly, the flagellomeres of the antennae have two conspicuous rows of scales on the dorsal side. This newly discovered character excludes
T. inclusa
from Olethreutinae, which have a single row of scales on flagellomeres (
Horak & Brown 1991
). The form of the labial palpi, the wing venation, the presence of abdominal scale brushes and the extraordinarily long valvae in the male genitalia suggest that
Tortricidrosis
should be placed in
Chlidanotinae
rather than in
Tortricinae
. Among tortricids in general, many
Polyorthini
are characterized by extremely long valvae. However, the absence of ocelli is somewhat problematic. Most Chlidanotini and
Hilarographini
have large ocelli, as do most
Polyorthini
; ocelli are reduced in a few members of the latter (e.g.
Ebodina
Diakonoff, 1968
), but they also are reduced or obsolete in most
Schoenotenini (Tortricinae) (
Horak 1998
)
and in
Amorbia
Clemens, 1860
(
Phillips-Rodriguez & Powell 2007
). The chorda is less troublesome as it is present or absent in Chlidanotini (
Brown 1990
;
Horak 1998
). The somewhat “shaggy” scaling of the head is also troublesome, more similar to that of
Tineidae
than to
Tortricidae
.
The monophyly of
Chlidanotinae
has been challenged, and two recent studies based on molecular data suggest that the subfamily is paraphyletic (
Regier
et al.
2012
;
Fagua
et al.
2017
). Although the subfamily of this fossil cannot be determined for certain, we conclude that it most likely is a tortricid.